Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Animation Survival • Lesson One

When I landed my first gig as a Production Assistant I felt like the doors had finally opened and that all my hard work and all my crazy dreams of pursuing a career in animation were finally paying off. It was an amazing and rewarding feeling and honestly I think that if you can approach each new job with that same amazement, then there are lots of opportunities for you along the road.

However it doesn't mean that the road isn't a difficult one...and though you might have the most amazing opportunities you need to quickly remember that keeping that foot firmly planted in the door can be a tricky one.

Something that I've been thinking about recently and something that I thought worth sharing (although at this point this blog is more for me than anyone else) anyways...something worth sharing and remembering to do so is being able to work well with others, getting the job done is really only part of whats required in an animation studio.

I think that I've had enough jobs in and out of animation at this point that I can safely say, as I think most would agree...is that being able to work well with your co-workers is extremely important and honestly it might just determine whither or not you'll land your next job based on if your a team player and well liked.

Working with-in the studio environment is really a bizarre situation, you have directors, line-producers, producers, writers, artists, production assistants, and all sorts of others who make everything happen. And though you might try as you like to always be viewed as the nice-good-guy-laid-back-likable-person...well sometimes you might end up being the jerk!

Funny thing is I don't know if any of us ever really takes a step back and says "Oh, that was really un-cool of me" but believe me when the time comes you better be ready to listen to what others have to say about it. And the thing is it's just as easy...to be the one who sees someone else acting like a jerk and to be really unforgiving about it, even if that person is having an off day or has some serious life issues going on.

I think hands down if your going to work towards being part of the animation industry you really need to try to not only find the positive in others but also strive to bring out the positive in yourself.

6 comments:

Well said, well said :) I sometimes feel that learning things about others as well as yourself is what makes the road so rewarding. Good luck with everything!!! Thanks for taking the time to drop by to look at my blog too :)